58: Chapter 58: Being Treated Like an Easy Pawn

"Commander, the latest news from the front is that Raqqa Military Base has anti-aircraft missiles. Two Black Hawk Helicopters and three Apache Attack Helicopters have been shot down. The remaining Black Hawk Helicopters and Apache Attack Helicopters are waiting for further orders outside Raqqa Military Base."

The commander of the joint forces was stunned upon receiving the latest report from the Black Hawk Helicopter pilot.

"How is that possible? The F-16 Fighter Jet had already destroyed the anti-aircraft missile positions at Raqqa Military Base, and the drone reconnaissance just now didn't detect any anti-aircraft missile positions. How did they suddenly appear and shoot down five helicopters?"

The commander muttered to himself; this sudden situation caught him off guard and caused him some panic.

Five helicopters?! There had never been a time when so many helicopters were lost all at once.

The commander looked at the soldier still waiting for orders and said, "Return immediately! Have all helicopters return immediately!"

Until the anti-aircraft missile positions were destroyed, the helicopters were practically sitting ducks.

The commander dared not risk sending the helicopters to Raqqa Military Base to destroy the anti-aircraft missile positions again.

After all, compared to anti-aircraft missiles, the combat performance gap of the rockets carried by the helicopters was significant. They were good tools for bullying weaker enemies, but struggling against anti-aircraft missiles was a bit too much. The damage was too great; there was no need to do this.

After receiving the order, the pilots of the Black Hawk Helicopters and Apache Attack Helicopters fled as quickly as possible, staying far away from Raqqa Military Base, fearing that the suddenly appearing anti-aircraft missiles would hit them.

No one wanted to experience the fate of being torn to pieces after being hit by an anti-aircraft missile. The final images of the previous five helicopters were still etched in the minds of some pilots.

This wasn't fear; it was about valuing their lives!

The commander hurriedly reported the situation to Lieutenant General Gran, hoping to receive reinforcements of F-16 Fighter Jet.

"Lieutenant General, after we reached the perimeter of Raqqa Military Base, the Black Hawk Helicopters and Apache Attack Helicopters encountered enemy anti-aircraft missile attacks while providing vanguard cover."

"Attacked by anti-aircraft missiles? Didn't we destroy all the anti-aircraft missile positions?" Lieutenant General Gran couldn't believe it.

"Yes, attacked by anti-aircraft missiles. Two Black Hawk Helicopters and three Apache Helicopters were shot down, and all other helicopters have already retreated." The commander dared not hide anything and reported the facts.

"Are you sure there are still Iran anti-aircraft missile positions at Raqqa Military Base?" Lieutenant General Gran questioned again.

"Yes, there are still anti-aircraft missile positions. The helicopters were not hit by man-portable air-defense systems."

"Suspend helicopters from heading to Raqqa Military Base for now. Immediately send drones to carefully scout the situation." Lieutenant General Gran ordered.

"Yes, Lieutenant General. Should we send F-16 Fighter Jet to continue bombing Raqqa Military Base now?" The commander requested reinforcements.

"Wait until we get the latest intelligence from the reconnaissance." Lieutenant General Gran also dared not let the F-16 Fighter Jet take unnecessary risks.

If the anti-aircraft missiles could shoot down Black Hawk Helicopters, they could also potentially shoot down F-16 Fighter Jet. Although the F-16 Fighter Jet could launch missiles from outside the operational range of the anti-aircraft missiles, who knew what the operational range of Iran's anti-aircraft missiles was?

"Yes, I will immediately send drones to Raqqa Military Base to scout for intelligence." The commander quickly replied.

Just as the commander was reporting the situation to Lieutenant General Gran, Major Jafari learned that the Black Hawk Helicopters and Apache Attack Helicopters were no longer circling the perimeter of Raqqa Military Base.

He quickly consulted with the company commander to evacuate the two Tianlei Type III Anti-Aircraft Missile launch teams that had already fired all their missiles, and had the remaining five launch teams change their deployment positions and re-establish concealment.

If they stayed where they were, the risk of the launch teams being exposed would increase dramatically. Moving to new positions to hide could reduce the risk of being discovered.

Major Jafari looked at the redeployed Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile launch teams, hoping the USA would not be impulsive and continue to air-raid Raqqa Military Base.

After the commander finished reporting the situation, he immediately dispatched drones to head to Raqqa Military Base again.

The drones flew cautiously into the area of Raqqa Military Base, quickly taking pictures of various locations, wanting to find the anti-aircraft missile positions as soon as possible.

Thanks to the information reported by the returning Black Hawk Helicopter pilots, the drones quickly found five anti-aircraft missile positions.

Unfortunately, these five anti-aircraft missile positions only left traces of use; there was no anti-aircraft missile launcher equipment left on them.

It seemed that Iran had promptly withdrawn the anti-aircraft missile launchers from the positions. But where had they gone?

The drones had to expand their search range, wanting to discover the new hiding places of the anti-aircraft missile launchers as soon as possible.

After some comparison and analysis, the data sent back by the drones finally identified three anti-aircraft missile positions that were currently in hiding.

"How come only three anti-aircraft missile positions were found?" The commander was somewhat dissatisfied. "Analyze carefully again to see if there are more anti-aircraft missile positions; the Black Hawk Helicopter pilots reported five earlier."

However, to the commander's frustration, no new anti-aircraft missile positions could be found.

"Should we have the drones drop laser-guided bombs now to destroy the anti-aircraft missile positions?"

The commander hesitated. After considering it, he decided that it would be safer for Lieutenant General Gran to send the F-16 Fighter Jet for long-range destruction.

The commander immediately reported the intelligence gathered to Lieutenant General Gran. Upon learning that the anti-aircraft missile positions at Raqqa Military Base had been detected, Lieutenant General Gran immediately ordered more than ten F-16 Fighter Jet to take off and launch a bombing raid on Raqqa Military Base.

With the arrival of more than ten F-16 Fighter Jet, Major Jafari looked at the fighter jets on the monitoring radar and cursed inwardly.

"The USA really treats Raqqa Military Base as a soft target, sending wave after wave of aircraft. I really hope all these fighter jets crash."

Earlier, when he saw the drones, Major Jafari had hoped that after seeing the crashed helicopters, the USA would hurry up and get the hell out, hiding back in their mother's arms.

But he didn't expect the USA to be so ruthless, immediately sending more than ten more fighter jets to attack Raqqa Military Base.

Did Raqqa Military Base step on the USA's hornet's nest? Why are they just hammering away at Raqqa Military Base?!

After arriving at the perimeter of Raqqa Military Base, the F-16 Fighter Jet immediately launched "Maverick" air-to-ground missiles, heading straight for the three detected anti-aircraft missile positions.

As the dust exploded and scattered outwards, the three anti-aircraft missile positions were directly destroyed, without being able to launch even a single anti-aircraft missile.

Major Jafari soon discovered that three launch teams had lost signal, including two Tianlei Type III Anti-Aircraft Missile launch teams and one Tianlei Type II Anti-Aircraft Missile launch team.